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I’ve considered, on and off, changing the tone of my novel’s ending to something more hopeful. Of course, the name “The Way of Attrition” might not be as accurate then, and the ending I have has lasted all the years I’ve been writing this novel, so I guess we’ll see. I have part of the more hopeful ending written, so it’ll exist in some form either way, even if it ends up being in an alternative writer’s universe.

More for the Unheired Prince:

I can’t be killed. Well, I can be killed, but only by the prince. Since he’s not functional, I essentially can’t be killed. That was the whole point of this arrangement. The whole point of my existence.

I should be able to find, rescue, and bring him home. The people can crown their true leader. Now that the war is over, there’s no reason for him to remain in isolation. No one outside the circle of royal advisers need know he was ever gone. They need never know about me.

Chapters 12, 13, and 14 have me feeling like my novel’s in pretty good shape. I’m sure chapters 15, 16, etc. will have me sure it needs a lobotomy. (Now’s a great time for a laughing/crying emoticon.)

The Unheired Prince:

When the connection goes cold it terrifies me. He’s not dead; I would know it if he were dead, but he’s worse than unconscious. I can follow my link to him. Should I go now or wait to see if he gets himself out of whatever situation he’s gotten himself into?

But how can he get himself out if he’s worse than unconscious?

Then there’s the coronation. Having it without him was one thing when he was alive and well. Having it without him when he’s alive and comatose, or whatever he is, well, it makes my stomach twist.

Today, I watched the Star Trek: Voyager episode Nemesis. I have to say it’s one of the best of the series so far. It has a twist that I should have seen coming, but I didn’t, and it flipped the episode on its head. It’s the epitome of Star Trek in its message. Very well done.

I think I may have come to the end of Don’t Bleed blurbs, like my next step would really be to just put the blurbs in chronological order, outline the story where it stands right now, and then write it. If only I weren’t trying to get through editing my novel and making a decision on its general length / whether it’s bloated.

So where does that leave me with my little creative foray of the day? I’m not sure. Maybe with the Unheired Prince story of here and here, for the same blurb treatment.

“Get up.”

When I don’t react, he says it again. “Get up.” Then, “Don’t kneel before me.”

I stand, but keep my head bowed and gaze lowered. Is it better to look death in the face? I don’t know.

“I won’t do it.”

It’s like I don’t understand the words at first, and then it’s like I can’t stop hearing them.

They created me out of blood and sacrifice, desperation and fear. A powerful combination, and one that can only be broken by the first of those. My blood, my sacrifice, at the hands of the one they linked me to. In a way, it will be like getting murdered by myself.

I edited Chapter 6 and the beginning of Chapter 7 of Part Two today. Then a friend called. Of course, my periodic checking of election results wasn’t helping on the Chapter 7 front either. Chapter 7 is significant so I’ve decided I’ll edit it in full tomorrow.

This round of editing has me unsure. I think maybe about 1/3 of this novel should be cut, but then maybe I’m just too familiar with the story. Maybe more of it is necessary than seems right now. I might need some outside input to help answer that question. We’ll see.

Another short one today because I’ve gotten enough sleep the last several days and it’s fabulous and I need to keep that up:

They believe me almost without question once their children heal before their eyes, and I hate myself even more.

(Yes, it’s Don’t Bleed. Maybe Don’t Bleed will be my reward story for getting this novel in a fit state…)

This evening I edited Chapters 4 and 5 of Part Two. The fact that I had to write this comment at the bottom of one of the pages amuses me:

Does this conversation seem so familiar because of my having read it so many times or because I repeated it somehow?

Won’t that be a fun one to answer.

I’m very tired. I’m going to blame the time change. With no further ado, today’s Don’t Bleed blurb:

We return to the same clinic where we found her pleading for treatment to save her son’s life. Treatment she couldn’t afford. There are many others like her here today, and our time is spent trying to find the ones most likely to listen to us long enough to be glamoured.

Meal prepping and various adulting responsibilities were accomplished today. Not entirely sure on the soup I made for my dinners this week. I don’t dislike it, but I don’t love it. Hopefully it’ll grow on me. My jury’s also still out on the food processor I got last weekend. Hopefully that will grow on me too.

Today, in Don’t Bleed:

“It seems hard to believe one person could have caused all of these problems.”

“Never underestimate human determination. It’s a wonderful thing, but it’s usually mixed with human stupidity. I get wanting to be immortal. Sort of. I guess I get not wanting to die because no one knows for sure what’s next. But the magnitude of that spell of his…. And he clearly didn’t fully understand it, screwing with a balance he couldn’t grasp…”

“And doesn’t it figure that the way it backfired benefited him?”

“Yeah, but how much do you have to lack compassion to be okay with causing the deaths of so many people?”

“Well, another thing to never underestimate is a human’s ability to not give a shit about anyone else. People have done so many awful things throughout history, always able to make some distinction between themselves and the people they were harming.”

“This is a hell of a distinction – him versus literally everyone else.”

It’s been another tough day so I’m getting right to Don’t Bleed, and it’s going to be short:

Driving has always been the most dangerous thing most people do on a daily basis, but within weeks it became incontrovertible; the death toll rose and rose. Car insurance prices skyrocketed and people stopped driving except when absolutely necessary.

Thank you to everyone who’s read, or will be reading, the first chapter of my novel!

It’s been a tough day. I didn’t get much sleep last night and have had trouble concentrating on much this afternoon and evening.

Stepping back to an earlier point in Don’t Bleed (and with some obvious Easter eggs for a couple friends of mine):

The first items to go were the sharp edged ones.

Families willing to forego cooking put their best knives in storage, some followed with their blenders and food processors. Table and chain saws were stowed away, lawn mowers left unused, razors thrown out unopened.

Multitudes invested in safety gloves and other gear, but all parents guarded the things that could draw blood from their children. Even those without guns bought safes for what used to be everyday items.